The new Nintendo Switch 2 port of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade has left Digital Foundry rather impressed.
The renowned tech analyst group published a new video giving a thorough rundown of the release’s specifications, and how it compares to other versions. It concluded it “is largely an excellent Switch 2 port.”
Final Fantasy VII Remake was originally released in 2020 on the PlayStation 4, and saw an enhanced version, Intergrade, on PlayStation 5 the following year. In terms of technical prowess, contributor Oliver Mackenzie believes the Switch 2 release lands somewhere between these two previous versions.
“It’s essentially the PS5 Intergrade version, but running with visual settings closer to PS4,” he said.
Texture quality appears to be one of the most noticeable improvements over the PS4 release. That version infamously had many low-resolution assets, such as the maligned Sector 7 slum doors, which are rendered in full quality on Switch 2. Ground and wall textures are also improved over the PS4 version, though some signage and rock faces aren’t as detailed as they are on PS5.
Performance is one of the new port’s strengths, with Switch 2’s Intergrade running at a locked 30fps during docked gameplay. It appears to render at 1080p, and despite using a lower-tier DLSS solution, image quality in stills is notably sharper than the PS4 version. It is slightly less impressive in motion, but overall, Digital Foundry still compares the visuals favorably to the PS5 version.
Handheld mode is similarly solid, with the resolution hovering around 720p. Artefacts and dithering patterns aside, Digital Foundry considers the portable image quality to be impressive for a game of Remake’s scale.
Shadow quality and NPC draw distances are broadly comparable to PS4, while improved lighting seems to be carried over from the PS5 release.
Loading times are faster on Switch 2 than PS4, whether running from the internal SSD or SD Express storage. The PS5 version remains the fastest by a wide margin, however.
We had similar sentiments regarding the game’s presentation in our glowing Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade review, which reads: “Whether you’re a longtime Final Fantasy fan returning to Remake after a few years or a newcomer experiencing the world of Midgar for the very first time, this is an excellent way to play it. Playing through Remake on Switch 2 never felt like a compromise, which is something I honestly didn’t expect going in.”
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